The invention relates to a tool set having a screwdriver handle with a chuck for the insertion and latched mounting of tool inserts provided with standard polygonal-shank segments, and having tool inserts, which can be inserted into the chuck and are provided with the standard polygonal segments, in particular bits, sockets or extension elements.
Such tool sets are known in the prior art. For example, handles which have an interior cavity into which the tool inserts can be inserted for exchange purposes are already known. There are also handles which have an internal free-wheel mechanism. Overall, however, such handles are usually only combined with screwing tools. Handles with differently configured chucks have also already been fitted in practice with different tool attachments, for example German Utility Model 1721199 discloses a screwdriver handle onto which a hammer shaft can be plugged. U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,174 discloses a screwdriver handles with a specifically configured profile which can be pushed onto plier arms, the plier arms themselves being provided as screwdriver blades, so that the plier arms can be used as screwing tools when the handles are removed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,173, U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,721, U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,844, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,366 describe multifunction tools which are based on pliers with two plier-handle arms, out of which handle arms it is possible to pivot screwdriver blades , saws, knives or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,274 describes a multipurpose tool in the form of pliers, it being possible for knife blades to be extended out of the rear of the plier arms, which can be removed from the plier head. FR 1,081,907 describes a hammer which is hollow on the inside and in which constituent parts of a plier head are accommodated. The shaft of the hammer comprises two handle segments which are located one beside the other and can be unscrewed from the hammer head in order to be screwed to the plier heads, this producing a tool in the form of pliers. Connections for connecting to screwing tools are also located to the rear of these handle segments.
It is an object of the invention to develop a tool set of the generic type, without losing the ability to combine with further screwing tools which do not belong to the tool set, such that a new functioning mode is established.
The novel solution according to the invention provides a supplementary tool which has a plier head. The special feature here is a plier-handle projection, which is disposed immediately behind the knuckle joint, and the shape of the same. This is because the shape is intended to be that of a standard shank segment of the screwing tools, the screwdriver handle, which latches to the plier-handle projection by way of its chuck, forming one of the two plier arms.
In a preferred development, this configuration makes it possible to assemble fully functional pliers exclusively with parts of the known tool set, specifically by the other plier arm being formed by a blade extension, which is preferably approximately of the same length as the handle. Possible further tool components are constituted, in particular, by a blade extension of the handle formed as a screwdriver handle. The handle projection on the plier arm is formed as a hexagonal profile. A hexagonal chuck of the handle or of a further tool component may be plugged onto this hexagonal profile. The cross-sectional surface area of the blade extension is preferably greater than the cross-sectional surface area of the polygonal profile. The handling ability is improved as a result. The polygonal chuck is preferably a chuck with an axially displaceable sliding sleeve and a clamping body. The sliding sleeve keeps the clamping body, under spring action, in a clamping position. From this clamping position, the clamping body can be released by virtue of the sliding sleeve being displaced. Such a quick-change chuck is disclosed, for example, in Utility Model 90 00 245.8. Reference is made to this specification as far as the configuration of this chuck is concerned. It is considered, in particular, to be advantageous here if the clamping body, formed as a ball, rests, by way of its curved surface merely on the two corner points of the prismatic corner cutout of the polygonal profile. In a preferred development of the blade extension, it is provided that, at its end which is located opposite the chuck, this blade extension provides a transverse opening for the insertion of a polygonal profile of a further tool component. Possible further tool components are constituted, in particular, by screwdriver bits, nuts or angle elements. However, it is also provided that the tool components are formed by knives or saws. These tool components have, at their end, a polygonal profile which can be inserted into the polygonal opening of the quick-change chuck. The length of the handle-end arm segments of the plier head is preferably less than the length of the jaw-end arm end segments. The two plier arms are preferably formed as forgings. It is possible here for the jaws to have a Rockwell hardness of 60 or more. It is sufficient if the handle projections have a Rockwell hardness of approximately 45. The plier jaws may have a flat tip. However, they may also have a cutting edge. It is likewise provided that the plier jaws provide a rounded jaw segment. It is preferable for the jaws to provide the flat zone at the tip and the cutting edge adjacent to the knuckle joint. A rounded region may be formed between the cutting edge and the flat tip. In order for the quick-change chuck to be connected to the handle projections in an axially secured manner, it is provided that the arm projections, which are formed as polygonal stubs, provide radial cutouts for the engagement of the clamping body. The handle-end plier arm segments may be angled such that the axial lines of the arm projections intersect at a point which is located in front of the plier knuckle joint, at the jaw end. As a result of the handle projections being located directly adjacent to the knuckle joint, the plier head is of very small construction. The handle projections, which are inserted into the chuck, are continuations of angled portions which directly adjoin the knuckle joint. The handle projections are profiled such that handles which can be plugged thereon are connected to the plier head in a pull-resistant and compression-resistant manner. In the case of the plier head according to the invention, it is ensured that the functional elements of a set of pliers can be produced in a conventional, tried-and-tested manner. The tool components which perform the handle function have multiple uses, in that they can also be combined with other tool components and, in particular, with each other. The polygonal profile may be the standardized xc2xc-inch hexagonal profiles which are realized for the screwdriver bits. However, the subject matter of the invention also covers, in principle, any other standard polygonal drive profile, in particular also xc2xc-inch square profiles which are used as ratchet drive profiles. The tool set may include adapter elements in order for a xc2xc-inch hexagonal socket to be accommodated over a xc2xc-inch square profile.
The plier head is produced in a known manner by forging long-armed pliers. The plier arms are then cut off to leave just stub-like plier-arm segments. A hexagonal profile is then machined onto these plier-arm segments. The hexagonal profile is applied with the plier mouth open. In this case, the two handle-end plier-arm end segments are located at such an angle as to make it possible for the profiling of the polygonal segments to be machined.